Homo Sapiens

Xiangjiang.

The Human Resources building of the Homo Sapiens Company’s Xiangjiang Branch.

This was the Homo Sapiens Company’s largest employee recruitment base in the Far East Region. The small offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen couldn’t even compare.

This was largely thanks to Xiangjiang’s status as a free port. Furthermore, the local authorities didn’t dare to offend the Homo Sapiens Company, which was why they allowed it to establish such a massive recruitment base here.

This recruitment base essentially served as a connection point for workers heading south for employment.

Wang Zidong, who had come to apply yesterday, was feeling dejected. Although being from Shaoguan gave him an advantage due to proximity, he had been rejected because he only had a middle school education.

He had come with a group of people from his hometown, but only he and another middle-aged man who hadn’t finished high school failed the initial screening.

Today, he planned to buy some medicine in Xiangjiang to sell back home before ending this disappointing trip.

Suddenly, a middle-aged man rushed in, ecstatic. ”Xiaowang, come with me, quickly!”

”For what?” Wang Zidong was completely baffled.

”Hurry up and get yourself presentable! There’s good news from the recruitment office,” the middle-aged man said hastily.

Wang Zidong scrambled out of bed and quickly brushed his teeth and washed his face.

After tidying themselves up, the two changed into a more respectable set of clothes and took a taxi to the Homo Sapiens Company’s recruitment base.

Inside the taxi.

Neither of them was in the mood to admire Xiangjiang’s bustling streetscape.

”This time, the company needs people to pioneer the market in Africa, so they’ve relaxed the educational requirements. They’re even taking middle school graduates.”

”Uncle Liu, will it be dangerous in Africa?”

The middle-aged man flashed a grin, revealing a set of white teeth. ”If it wasn’t dangerous, would it be our turn? Fortune favors the bold. I’ve got old parents and young kids at home. I used to be able to tough it out on construction sites, but there are fewer and fewer new projects starting up. I’m not old yet, so I’m going to give it one more shot.”

Wang Zidong thought about it and felt that Uncle Liu had a point. If he didn’t risk it all while he was young, he’d have no hope at all when he got older.

The taxi driver in the front seat chuckled and said, ”If you get a chance with the Homo Sapiens Company, you should cherish it! If I hadn’t taken out a mortgage on a house here in Xiangjiang and was still paying it off, I’d want to go work for them myself.”

”Listening to your accent, friend, are you from the Chaoshan area?” Uncle Liu guessed.

The driver nodded. ”My hometown is over in Puning.”

”Xiangjiang must be doing pretty well now, right?” Wang Zidong asked, a little unconvinced.

The driver shook his head. ”The last two years have been tough. Fortunately, thanks to the Homo Sapiens Company’s influence a while back, a whole bunch of wealthy people from Southeast Asia flocked to Xiangjiang to settle down and buy property. That, plus the transshipment of Gold and medicine, is what allowed Xiangjiang to recover so quickly.”

Speaking of which, the driver was actually very grateful to the Homo Sapiens Company.

In fact, the vast majority of working-class people had a favorable impression of the Homo Sapiens Company.

Many companies were now forced to improve their benefits to retain talent, and the compensation for ordinary workers in all major economies was also rising rapidly.

They had no choice but to raise them.

After all, the Homo Sapiens Company was right there. If other companies didn’t improve their benefits, the workers weren’t stupid; they would just leave.

Therefore, to retain talent and labor, many businesses could only raise their compensation while also stepping up automated production to reduce the number of ordinary workers.

The Pearl River Delta Region had an advantage due to its proximity.

It was very close to Southeast Asia, and many families had relatives there, allowing them to get the most accurate information.

Countless young people from the entire Lingnan Region flocked to Xiangjiang to apply for jobs.

Among them, those with full-time associate’s or bachelor’s degrees could almost always pass the initial selection.

But people like Wang Zidong and Uncle Liu, with only middle school diplomas, were naturally not the first choice and were thus rejected.

Soon, the taxi arrived at the recruitment base.

It was located in the suburbs, where the Homo Sapiens Company had purchased a large plot of land to build its recruitment base.

Wang Zidong and Uncle Liu arrived and went directly to the Africa Region recruitment office. They weren’t the only ones who had heard the news; a long line had already formed at the office entrance.

’There are so many people,’ Wang Zidong worried to himself. ’What if there’s a quota?’

A young man in line ahead of them turned around. ”Don’t worry. The African Branch doesn’t have a quota right now. I heard the company is sending 1 million employees to pioneer the market in Africa.”

”One million? Are you kidding me?” Wang Zidong’s throat felt dry.

The young man in front of them smiled and retorted, ”Kidding? You know about Mad Island?”

”Is that the big island in southeastern Africa?” Uncle Liu scratched his head, trying to recall the meager geographical knowledge stored in his brain.

”That island is 590,000 square kilometers, but it currently only has a population of 27 million, most of whom are considered low-quality labor. The Homo Sapiens Company has no time to waste. They plan to dispatch a million employees to directly upgrade the entire industry on Mad Island.”

Hearing this, everyone had a moment of realization.

It turned out the Homo Sapiens Company had already established a fully authorized branch on Mad Island. Dispatching a million employees from the Southeast Asia Headquarters to support the Mad Branch’s development was indeed necessary.

At the same time, this was a major test of the new employees’ abilities and willpower. Although the Homo Sapiens Company was known for its high-paying benefits, it was no place for slackers.

Currently, many new migrant workers were not assigned to branches in well-developed regions. Instead, they were sent to newly established, fully authorized branches that required pioneering, such as the Spice Islands Branch, the Borneo Branch, and the Divine Island Branch.

The Southeast Asia Headquarters was already densely populated with employees. The Homo Sapiens Company’s expansion into African markets and resources was intended to alleviate some of that pressure.

The various conflicts arising from the needs of the Homo Sapiens Company’s employees were mainly due to the rapid urbanization of various locations, which strained the urban infrastructure.

Within the Homo Sapiens Company, small, village-level branches were generally not established. The smallest branch level was the town, and even those had to be for special purposes.

Therefore, the cities required massive supporting infrastructure.

For the newly pioneered African market and resources, there were future plans to dispatch 5 to 10 million employees from the Southeast Asia Headquarters.

With the right technology and proper development, Mad Island’s agricultural potential could support a population of 50 to 80 million people.

The group of applicants chattered among themselves.

Before long, it was Wang Zidong and Uncle Liu’s turn.

The staff member asked about their family situation, physical condition, personal background, and the crucial question of whether they were willing to work at the African Branch for ten years.

Wang Zidong had already made up his mind, so he agreed immediately.

The staff member stamped his employment application, then handed it over with a smile. ”Congratulations, Mr. Wang, and welcome to the Homo Sapiens Company.”

”Thank you! Thank you so much!” Wang Zidong was thrilled.

The staff member reminded him, ”By the way, because the infrastructure at the African Branch is still incomplete, your family can be temporarily housed on Sumatra Island, under the Malacca Branch. We’ve already built some temporary employee towns there. Also, your employee points will be calculated with a 1.3 multiplier.”

”I understand.”

The so-called ”employee points” were actually a reference value the Homo Sapiens Company used to assess an employee’s rank.

Doing the same job within the Homo Sapiens Company could earn you a different number of points depending on the region.

For example, at branches in developed regions like the Xingdao Branch, Manila Branch, and Yangon Branch, the point calculation parameter was usually a 0.7 multiplier. At branches in underdeveloped regions, the multiplier would be 1.2.

The African Branch’s current 1.3 multiplier was the highest of all.

This was in consideration of the fact that the African Branch was starting from scratch under difficult conditions. The point multiplier was raised to encourage employees to go there.

After Wang Zidong, Uncle Liu, and the others received their employment approvals, they were scheduled for a full physical examination.

This was also one of the recruitment base’s functions.

Typically, new employees would undergo about a month of intensive training here before being dispatched to their designated regional branch.

This month of intensive training was extremely important. After all, the Homo Sapiens Company had many internal regulations unknown to outsiders—some of which seemed trivial but were actually crucial.

Wang Zidong and the others began their diligent studies at the base.